The first Lipitor bellwether trial that was scheduled to commence next month has now been delayed until January 2016.

The Lipitor diabetes lawsuit, originally set to begin trial proceedings on Nov. 4, 2015, has been pushed back until Jan. 13, 2016 due to the current caseload of U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel. In a docket entry Judge Gergel cited the scheduling of several criminal cases, which take precedence, to be the cause for the delay.

Plaintiff Wilma D.’s Lipitor lawsuit will be the first in a number of “bellwether” trials in the Lipitor MDL. Bellwether trials are used as a measuring stick for all parties involved in the litigation to determine how the rest of the claims could play out in the courtroom.

Though these bellwether trials are not legally binding on future lawsuits, they do help to examine how certain testimony and pieces of evidence may be seen by juries and courts in similar cases. The trials could also play a role in a settlement agreement between plaintiffs and the defendant.

Wilma and her fellow plaintiffs hold similar claims against Pfizer, the makers of Lipitor, of side effects as a result of taking the drug; she was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes while taking Lipitor.

According to her Lipitor lawsuit, Wilma, who began taking Lipitor in 1997, claims she had a healthy weight and diet before she began taking the medication to lower her cholesterol and that the drug “left her with an increased risk of heart disease and other health complications.”

Wilma’s Lipitor bellwether trial will mark the first time one of those cases has gone to before a jury. As a bellwether trial, the outcome of the case could provide insight into how juries might rule in similar Lipitor diabetes claims.

Currently, jury selection is still slated to begin on Nov. 3, 2015, with a second trial also set to begin in early 2016.

Lipitor Claims Reach 2,500+

More than 2,500 Lipitor lawsuits have been filed in the District of South Carolina on behalf of women who allegedly developed type-2 diabetes due to their use of the statin medication. Each claim contains similar allegations that Pfizer failed to warn Lipitor users of the link between type-2 diabetes and the cholesterol drug.

The Lipitor litigation has been growing since February 2012, when the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) ordered all statin manufacturers to modify their drug’s labels to include information about a potential to raise blood glucose levels. However, Lipitor lawsuit plaintiffs claim that Pfizer’s modification did not provide enough information to adequately warn patients of the drug’s association with type-2 diabetes.

If you or a loved one have taken the cholesterol medication Lipitor and have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, you may be entitled to significant compensation for medical bills and other damages.

The Lipitor Type-2 Diabetes lawsuit is Case No: 2:14-cv-01400-RMG and is housed in the larger Lipitor MDL, In Re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2502, in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, Charleston Division.